An Internet home page generally represents the top-level document at a particular Internet site. A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) provides the global address or location of the home page.
Currently, there are several well known techniques for accessing an Internet home page from a remote computer which is linked to the Internet. For example, a search engine, such as YAHOO!.RTM. (a registered trademark of Yahoo!, Inc.) can be used. Also, it is common for computer users to store a URL in a computer file generally known as a bookmark. The bookmark is then used for accessing a particular home page. Different URL addresses can be linked by Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and these can be accessed through a description which is displayed on the computer. None of the above accessing techniques require any knowledge of the specific URL.
However, there are instances where a computer user who desires to access a certain home page needs to input a URL to a computer. For example, when the computer user obtains the URL from a printed publication. It has been found that this process presents unexpected difficulties because it requires computer inputting of the URL alphabetical characters which are usually in a long and complex character string. Also, it is difficult to remember these long and complex character strings, particularly when it is necessary to distinguish uppercase letters from lowercase letters.
Additionally, URLs are becoming more and more complex due to the unexpected increase in the number of home pages. As a result of the increasing complexity of URLs, a user may have difficulty inputting a URL from, for example, a newspaper advertisement while holding the newspaper in one hand. Let alone remembering the URL.
While applications exist which add functionality to a browser, no existing applications monitor input to the browser application's location (address) field in order to add extra functionality. A similar value adding application is QuickSeek.TM. (a trademark used by Infoseek Corporation) from INFOSEEK.RTM. (a registered trademark of Infoseek Corporation), but rather than obtaining input from the browser's location field, it adds its own separate input field to the browser.
Accordingly, the need exists for methods and systems which facilitate accessing network home pages through URLs.